An Unexpected Turning Point
by dark-byakugan24
Summary: Dean dreams about the rebel angel Anna and thinks to himself how much she has helped him in the long run. One-shot written for ALPoH's Deeping Chasm challenge.


**An Unexpected Turning Point**

Challenge Prompt: _The closer we get to the light, the deeper our shadow becomes._

* * *

><p><em>"It wasn't your fault, Dean."<em>

Dean turned around wondering if the voice he heard was right, as it sounded very familiar to him and a beam of blindingly white light shone so he had to shield his eyes momentarily. After peering carefully, he made out the outline of a certain red-headed angel he once knew, the light dimming a little. Dean's green eyes widened in disbelief in having his hearing confirmed as the angel slowly came into focus, and he lowered his arms from his eyes.

"…Anna?"

Anna's words from that one night they had spent together, echoed in Dean's head after she had said it and all of his feelings towards her came rushing back, some of them being falling in love with her compassion but not all of his memories of her were positive. He wished she had not turned against him, because she understood him, more than even his brother sometimes. She had told him he wasn't to blame for all the souls he had tortured in Hell, when he had died from the hellhounds, her words going deep through his self-loathing. Anna made him gradually forgive himself for all the horrible things he had done in Hell, alongside with Alistair.

"Hi, Dean," Anna smiled kindly at Dean, looking at his astounded face. "This may seem kind of weird to you, me being here and all. I just thought to remind you about this. You can get through this."

Anna was a beautiful angel with intentions she truly believed were right, but going back in time in an attempt to murder his and Sam's parents was near unforgivable, although Dean understood her reasons for doing so. Her previous good intentions had been warped by her time spent back in Heaven, slowly but surely indoctrinating her. Besides Sam, his parents and Bobby who made him into he was today, the angels Anna and Castiel helped him slowly recover from the pain and guilt of his time in Hell.

"Just remember that for down the road, okay?" Anna asked and then turned around to walk towards the luminous white light ahead, her now unkempt fiery red hair blowing out from behind her as she neared it. Dean saw the shadowed outline of Anna's figure reflected in the light as she reached it, her dark feathered glorious wings spread out of either side of her.

* * *

><p>There was a brief flash of light behind his eyelids and Dean woke up, opening his eyes. Glancing around, Dean saw he was still lying down on his bed in the medium-sized room of a rather cheap motel he and Sam had checked in for a week. <em>It was just a dream, Dean.<em> He told himself, surprised and a little shaken at seeing Anna again. It had been a long time since he had seen Anna brutally killed by the Archangel Michael and he felt the dream was his subconscious gently chiding him for always taking all the blame for himself, and questioning his self-worth.

Dean attempted to blink away the image of Anna walking into the light away from his mind. He grunted as he pushed himself up to a sitting position on the bed, after hearing the motel door opening and rubbed his eyes groggily. Sam walked through the doorway, holding a thick plastic bag and a rolled up newspaper.

"Hey, you're alright, Dean?" Sam asked, his brows furrowing in concern at Dean's still surprised face.

"Yeah-" Dean coughed to clear his throat. "...I-I'm fine, Sammy." He struggled off the motel bed and sat down on a chair accompanying a small brown wooden table that was chipping away slightly at the edges. He took a gulp of beer, and then set the bottle down on the table, which clinked against yet another empty bottle. _No more drinking out of self-pity after this_, Dean told himself. _Well, I'll try, anyway._

"Alright," Sam replied, not looking entirely convinced and hefted the plastic bag onto the table.

"You got pie, Sammy?" Dean asked, glancing at the bag Sam had set down on the table. "_Please_ tell me you got pie!"

Sam scoffed, "I sure do, Dean." Sam took out the pie from the bag. "Apple pie, your favourite." Sam paused for dramatic effect, then added tilting his head frowning in mock concentration, "I think…or is it lemon pie with extra cream…?"

Dean gave a sarcastic smile. "Very funny. You should be a comedian, Sam." Dean smiled genuinely though when Sam looked away to chuckle. He thought that even though Sam was still coping with his own experiences from Hell, Sam cracking jokes again took Dean back to the old times when things had been less complicated between them, pulling lame pranks on each other and whatnot.

"Here, Dean." Sam handed the pie over to Dean, scrunching up the plastic bag and lobbed it into the wastebasket.

Dean thanked Sam and eagerly dug in to his beloved steaming pie, his second favourite thing in the world besides his sleek black 1967 Chevy Impala. "So, find any new cases?" He nodded at the newspaper Sam was holding.

"Yeah, actually," Sam said, unrolling the newspaper and sat down on the chair opposite Dean. He scanned the front page. "Three murders this past week, all died in unusual ways…"

Sam's words grew distant, as Dean continued munching on his pie and thinking about his dream about Anna. He still thought of Anna as someone he truly loved and there was no denying that she had made a huge impact in changing his life around, made especially clear after she walked into the light, in his dream. That was something he was extremely grateful for.

"Police think it may have been- hey Dean, are you even listening?" Sam's slightly annoyed words snapped Dean out of his thinking. Dean blinked and looked up from his half-eaten pie to see Sam staring at him, his eyebrows lifted.

Dean quickly swallowed his mouthful of pie with a little difficulty, and smiled sheepishly at Sam. "Uh, no, what were you saying?" Dean asked.

Sam sighed and handed the newspaper over to Dean, in which Dean scanned the headlines. Dean gauged that there was another typical hunting job to be done, but he had one more thought before delving into the case with Sam.

_I will never forget what you have done for me, Anna Milton._


End file.
